Kingdom Hearts  A New Power
by Sora200X
Summary: Riku and Terra have had a son. However, he proves to be a disappointment to his father. Will Riku see that there is more than one way to win a war, or is Aeros doomed to follow in his father's footsteps, and never catch-up? RikuxOC
1. Chapter 1  Smile

Kingdom Hearts: A New Power

Chapter 1: Smile

_Clash! Ching! Slash! _The sound of metal on metal echoed all throughout the hall as hundreds of children fought each other with large, key-like swords, while a young man, hair as silver as the blades themselves, and eyes a deep blue, with just the slightest hint of green, looked on keenly atop a stage at the front of the room.

A woman about his age moved beside him, looking as if she needed to tell him something. He dismissed her with a wave of his hand, and she bowed respectfully out, her light brown hair obscuring her dark blue eyes as they moved towards the source of her concern: two young boys in the crowd of students, taking the training extremely seriously.

Both had been clearly training hard, and were showing the consequences of it. One of them, a child with long, dark brown hair and with an unnatural amount of muscle on his body, was beginning to allow his frustration show as his spiked, silver-haired sparring partner dodged his attacks with ease. The silver-haired child, however, was starting to feel exhausted, and pushed to his limits.'

Just as the brown-haired fighter moved to make the next blow, the man on the stage held his hand up to indicate of everyone that the training session was over. Everyone immediately froze, and watched him walk off the stage, before departing the training hall themselves.

The silver-haired boy saw the young man as he was leaving, and overheard him conversing with the young woman. Staying out of sight, he eavesdropped on the conversation.

"Riku, do you really think it was a good idea to match Aeros with Chorey?" the woman asked hesitantly.

"He's not going to learn to be strong if he just keeps up that dodging crap, is he?" the man named Riku replied in annoyance. "He comes from two long lines of families that pride themselves on their strength, and he has none! I can't stand for it any more, Terra, Chorey has to teach him how to be strong, and not just run away." Riku walked away in a huff, completely ignoring the boy as he left.

The young boy ran off to the nearby pond, tears streaming from his eyes. 'When will I be good enough, Father?' Aeros thought gingerly as he ran. 'Why can't you just accept that my skills are outside of where you want them to be.

Eventually, he reached a hidden grove at a nearby lake. He sat down at the edge, and watched as everyone else was practising water magic at the other side of it. There he cried bitterly for hours, until he heard movement behind him.

Reacting quickly, he summoned his Keyblade, and got ready to fight. After what seemed like ages of anticipation, his sparring partner from earlier appeared out of the bushes.

"Aeros! This is where you got to, huh?" The brown-haired boy yelled out.

"Go away, Chorey." Aeros muttered. "I just want to be left alone for a while." Turning away, Aeros resumed crying.

Chorey moved to sit down beside Aeros, and continued. "Everyone's been looking all over for you, man! Dinner's almost finished, and- Whoa, what's up, Aeros?" Chorey finally saw the tears sliding down Aeros' cheeks, and put a hand on his shoulder, in an attempt to comfort him.

"It's nothing." Aeros said simply, as he turned away from Chorey and squeezed his eyes shut, trying to stop further tears from flowing.

Chorey kept a firm grip on Aeros' shoulder, and turned towards the lake. "I saw the Master today, he seemed pretty angry. Has it got to do with him?"

Aeros cried even harder upon hearing his father's title. 'A title I will never live up to... I'm not strong enough, I never will be... He never will accept me, no matter how hard I try.' "I overheard Father talking to Mother after training today." He said in between sniffs. "He was talking about how I needed to be stronger, how he wasn't happy with my technique. He said about how he wanted me to learn from you, that was why he always set us up to spar together." Aeros broke down even further after letting that off his chest.

Chorey was shocked to hear what Aeros said, 'The master really holds my skills in that high regard? But I've never been able to land a hit on Aeros, how can I be that good?' He then turned to Aeros, and moved his arm all around his shoulders. "Your father pays attention to one thing, and one thing only: strength. But he doesn't realise that strength is useless when you struggle to hit your opponent. Have you noticed that I never actually manage to hit you? You're too damned fast for me, and wear me down too easily. Granted, you don't have the physical strength to hit a lot of enemies hard, but with your ability to dodge, you could run an enemy in circles, and wear them down to exhaustion, then finish them off." Chorey stood up, and took a pose he hoped was inspirational. "Sometimes, we don't fit the moulds we've been put in to, other times, it's the mould that doesn't fit us."

Aeros looked up at Chorey in awe at what he just said. 'Am I really as good as he says I am?' He thought for a moment. "Father will never accept that, though. You gotta be physically strong, or you're useless. He just sees me as a coward." He looked down again,still upset, but slightly less than before.

Chorey sat back down, disappointed that his little speech didn't do a lot to help out Aeros. "Tell you what," he started, prompting Aeros to look at him. "You keep going just as you are, and we'll see how you go come graduation. I think you've got the potential to reach top of the class, myself."

Aeros looked in stunned disbelief. "Alright, I suppose we could see just how I go with graduating the Academy." Aeros smiled at the thought of being able to prove his father wrong, and got up. "Come on, Chorey, you said dinner was almost over, right?"

Chorey smiled at the thought of food. "Yeah, let's hurry. I'm starving!"

Aeros smiled a little mischievously as he said, "I'll race you there!", and ran off, leaving Chorey far behind him.


	2. Chapter 2  Love

Kingdom Hearts: A New Power

Chapter 2: Love

Aeros reached the Feasting Hall several minutes before Chorey did, and got to enjoy a substantial dinner before his new found friend even reached the Hall, panting slightly from the effort of trying to catch up with him.

Aeros was still a little hurt from his father's comments earlier in the day, and felt an even greater pang in his heart as Riku stood up to deliver a speech to the students.

"Students of the Keyblade Academy, I hope you all enjoyed your feast." Riku boomed out confidently as he addressed them. "However, as you know, final exams are all upon us. I look forward to grading all of our classes, and I hope you all are performing up to standards." As he said this, he looked down at Aeros subtly. Aeros frowned under his father's gaze, refusing to allow himself to accept that his father's way was the only way to fight.

'I'll graduate, Father.' He silently thought, issuing a challenge through those thoughts, 'Just watch me. I'll graduate, with flying colours, and you'll have no choice but to accept that I'm just as capable as you are. Just as good a fighter as Chorey, only in a different way.'

Riku held Aeros' gaze long enough, he decided, and proceeded to snap away from it. "Now, I trust you are all well-fed on dinner, so, here's a little dessert to go alongside it." Riku clapped his hands, and the kitchen staff proceeded to flood the hall, each carrying a small mound of various sweets. Aeros grabbed a little of everything, taking in as much as he could handle.

As everyone began to slow down in their eating, Riku stood up again, excused everyone from the hall, and bid them goodnight. Aeros walked with Riku and Terra to the family's home, and settled in for the night.

Aeros laid awake in his bed for a couple of hours before the door to his room opened silently. So intent he was on his thoughts, that he did not notice his companion until his mother gently sat down on his bed next to him. Aeros jerked in surprise as his thoughts were broken.

"Mother," Aeros said softly. "Why are you here?"

Terra smiled softly at her son, then replied, "Don't think your father and I didn't notice you being late for dinner. Where did you go, anyway? We spend hours looking for you, and were worried when we couldn't find you."

Aeros bowed his head, remembering what his father had said. "I heard what Father said to you, Mother... about how much of a failure I am, about how I will never live up to his expectations. About how I am not strong enough for him to accept me..." Aeros started sobbing softly into his knees, silently cursing himself for his lack of strength.

Terra looked at Aeros, stunned. "You... You heard that conversation, didn't you? After today's training?" Aeros nodded, trying to stifle his crying. Terra gently put her arm around her son's shoulder, and silently cursed Riku for being so stubborn. "Aeros, it isn't like that, really... Your father is just surprised about how you turned out when it came to fighting, that's all."

Aeros sniffed and said bitterly, "Yeah, Mother, 'surprised'... not disappointed or anything.", turning his head slightly away from her.

"Honey," Terra said soothingly, while gently stroking his back, "your father isn't disappointed in you, I assure you. He loves you, as do I, and we could never be disappointed in you. You are still perfectly capable of holding your own in battle, he just isn't sure how best to develop your abilities to make you be the best you can be."

Aeros looked up at his mother, his eyes red from constant crying, tear stains streaking his cheeks. "A-are you sure, Mother?" He hiccuped, his breathing still heavy.

"Of course, dear." Terra held her son close. "Don't worry about it, he'll think of something, and be able to support you." She then let go of him, and walked out the door. "Rest up, kid. Tomorrow's a big day. Gotta prepare for your exams, right?" Aeros nodded as he got under the covers of his bed, and rested his eyes. "Goodnight, Aeros."

"Goodnight, Mother." Aeros yawned, as Terra smiled sweetly at him, turned off his light, and silently shut the door.

Terra slipped into her bed, and started manipulating an aura ball that she conjured up. After a little while, Riku finally decided to retire for the night.

"You're not still trying to combine your aura with Rexrat, are you, babe?" Riku smirked as he slipped under his own covers. He saw the slip in her concentration, and knew he didn't simply disturb her concentration. "Terra, what's wrong?" He asked, wondering what could have spawned that reaction.

"Aeros over-heard our little conversation after training today." Terra muttered angrily, the division between the two auras becoming more distinct as she spoke. "He thinks you're disappointed in him, and is extremely hurt now."

"Take it that's why he ran off, and didn't return until half-way through dinner?" Riku sighed, and rolled his eyes. "Pfft, it's for good reason, too. No point in taking these courses if you barely lay a scratch on an enemy."

Terra gave up on the aura ball, and dismissed it, rolling away from him. "You're so stubborn, Riku. Why can't you see that he's got a gift, just not the same as you or I?" She spoke bitterly.

Riku winced slightly at her icy tone, but then proceeded to rest his head on her shoulder. "What say you we have another attempt, babe?" His fingers traced over the skin of her arm. "We could make a much better kid, a much stronger one, just you and me. How about it?"

Terra snorted, slapped his hand off, and pulled the sheets up over her. "You're being a real jerk about this, Riku. Can't you at least try to show him some support? He's got potential, like I said."

Riku rolled his eyes and turned around. "Potential my ass." He yawned before drifting off to sleep. He was asleep so soon, that he wasn't aware of Terra's growing anger, or the sadness of the young boy in the room across the hall.

"Yeah, Mother... 'surprised'" Aeros muttered as he cried himself to a fitful sleep.


End file.
